Com Chien With Shrimp and Rice That Fries Instead of Steams

It is 9:40 on a Tuesday, the rice is cooling on a sheet pan, and you are practicing patience you do not usually have. This com chien recipe is Vietnamese fried rice with shrimp, scrambled egg, garlic and green onions, and the cooled rice is the whole trick. Cold rice is the playing-hard-to-get of fried rice: it needs a little distance before it gets hot. Plan on about 37 minutes, and about 15 of those are cooling time you spend chopping.

Fifteen minutes of cooling is the step that decides this dish, and you spend them chopping.

Once the rice has cooled, the cooking is quick and loud. Eggs first, then shrimp, then garlic, then the rice and the peas and carrots, then everything back together with fish sauce and soy. It reads like a lot of steps, but each one is a minute or two and each one gets its own moment in the pan.

How to make it

1. Rinse 2 cups jasmine rice, cook according to package directions, then spread on a sheet pan to cool for at least 15 minutes while you prep. Mince 4 garlic cloves, thinly slice 4 green onions, thaw 1.5 cups frozen peas and carrots if needed, and pat 12 oz shrimp dry, about 8 minutes of knife work.
2. Season the shrimp lightly with salt and black pepper. Beat 3 eggs in a small bowl with a pinch of salt.
3. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Scramble the eggs until just set, 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate.
4. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil to the same pan, cook the shrimp until pink and opaque, 2 to 3 minutes per side, then transfer to the plate with the eggs.
5. Add the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable oil, then the minced garlic, and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the cooled rice and 1.5 cups peas and carrots, tossing to break up clumps, 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Return the shrimp and eggs to the pan. Add 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and most of the sliced green onions. Toss everything together for 2 minutes until hot and evenly seasoned.
7. Taste and adjust with salt and black pepper. Top with the remaining green onions and serve right away.

Notes

Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. Cool the rice quickly on the sheet pan, as the method does, and put leftovers in the fridge rather than leaving them on the counter. Reheat in a hot skillet with a splash of oil so the grains crisp a little again, because the microwave turns them soft.

Leftover com chien keeps its flavor, and this com chien recipe reheats well in a skillet, where it tastes close to the first night. The shrimp is the part that suffers, so if you are cooking for later, stop the shrimp the moment it turns pink and opaque.

The shrimp go into the pan after the eggs, and they need two to three minutes per side. Pat them dry first, because wet shrimp steam instead of browning. They are done when they are pink and opaque, but color is only a hint, so check one with a thermometer if you want certainty: the USDA safe minimum for shellfish is 145°F. Pull them out of the pan as soon as they get there and they will not turn rubbery when they go back in.

Cook the eggs just until set, one to two minutes, and take them out. They finish in the final toss, so overcooked eggs go dry and crumbly in the rice. A little soft egg clinging to the grain is what you want.

Garlic goes in for thirty seconds and no more. It should smell sweet, not sharp. If it browns, the whole pan tastes bitter.

On SwipeCart this is a swipe-right dinner for a night when you want takeout energy without the delivery wait, and the agent can fill the cart with the shrimp, the fish sauce and the jasmine rice while you decide who gets the second plate.

Swaps that actually work

The fish sauce is the point. It is the salt, the funk and the depth, and the dish tastes like fried rice from a different place without it. If you must swap, use more soy sauce and add a squeeze of lime, and accept that the flavor is lighter.

Jasmine rice is what the recipe uses. Other long-grain white rice works as long as you cool it properly. Short-grain rice is stickier and tends to clump, so it is a harder way to make this. If you swiped shrimp into the week and wake up craving pork, the SwipeCart agent rebooks the cart with no hard feelings, and it never brings up the shrimp again.

Shrimp can be replaced with diced chicken or leftover pork, or with more eggs for a quicker version. If you use raw chicken, cook it through before the rice goes in, to 165°F, and set it aside as you do with the shrimp. If you skip protein, add a little more fish sauce to keep the flavor from going flat.

Any small frozen vegetable works, but thaw it first so it does not cool the pan down.

Green onions are the finish, and the recipe saves some for the top. If you only have the white parts, add them with the garlic. The green tops are for the end.

The swap that costs you a proper com chien recipe is warm rice. If the rice is hot and wet it clumps in the wok, and you get a porridge with shrimp in it, which is not the same thing.

If it goes wrong

The rice is clumpy and mushy. It was too warm or too wet when it hit the pan. Spread it on a sheet pan and cool it for at least 15 minutes next time. If it is already in the pan, turn the heat up and keep tossing until the steam clears and the grains separate.

The shrimp is rubbery. It cooked too long. Two to three minutes per side is the window, so pull it as soon as it is pink and opaque, and it goes back in at the end only to warm through.

It tastes flat. Usually salt. Add fish sauce a teaspoon at a time, taste, and finish with black pepper. A squeeze of lime at the table can help if the salt is right but the flavor is dull.

It tastes bitter. The garlic browned. Keep the heat at medium-high, give it thirty seconds and no more, and add the rice as soon as it smells sweet.

What to serve with it

The default is nothing. This is a complete plate with rice, shrimp, egg and vegetables, and the main reason to add something is that you want a crunchy side.

The better version of the default is a cucumber salad with lime and a pinch of salt, or a few cold slices of cucumber on the side. The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a small dish of chili sauce, for anyone who wants heat.

It works as lunch the next day, reheated in a hot skillet. Add a fried egg on top and it is a different meal.

Why this one earns its place

This com chien recipe is the dinner for a night when you want the feeling of takeout and some control over what is in it. The effort is front-loaded, the cooking is fast, and you finish with a pan you scrape clean.

It is also a dish that feels like you made a decision. Garlic, fish sauce and a hot pan are a better first impression than a delivery bag, and the rice makes a second date. Swipe it into your week and let the agent do the shopping.

Looking for more of the same energy? Try chicken fried rice, bun thit nuong, or the weekly meal planning guide.

More like this: all Vietnamese recipes in Crave Corner.